If you have been thinking about purchasing an EHR software for your practice, then you've probably considered how your patients might respond to their health records being in an electronic format. Will it make them more nervous having their records stored electronically? Or will they enjoy the flexibility that electronic health records offer?
Software Advice, a company that helps people find the right software for their organization, recently held a survey to help determine if electronic health records affect a patient's experience with their healthcare provider. It's important for ODs to be able to maintain a high level of quality care and patient interaction during an exam while using an EHR. So we thought that sharing some of the results from the survey might help clear up some worries you may have had about how patients feel about the use of EHRs in your office.
Do Your Patients Love or Hate Your EHR Software?
When it comes to healthcare and personal information, some of your patients might hesitate to have their information saved and stored through an electronic health record. While others might be excited about the flexibility of EHRs such as online access to education materials, pre-appointment questionnaires, treatment instructions, and secure communication between healthcare providers. According to the survey results, the majority of patients aren't concerned with doctors using EHRs during exams.
Patient Preference for Exam Room Charting Method
It was also determined from the survey that a majority of patients don't have a preference between paper records and EHRs, but after filtering out the results to take out those without a preference, it was determined that 77% of patients with a preference preferred electronic health records.
Patient Preference of Paper vs. EHRs
So What Does This Mean for You?
After looking at the data from this survey, it appears that patients don't have a negative stance on the use of EHRs in the exam room. While we know this can vary across the board depending on your customer base, it might be a good idea to have this conversation with a variety of your patients to get an idea on how they perceive EHRs.
If you're seeing some resistance from you patients, we have a list of various EHR benefits just for them:
- Patient Portals. There is so much a patient can gain from taking advantage of a patient portal. They'll gain the ability to securely communicate with healthcare providers online to work through treatment and prescription plans.
- Accuracy Checks. With access to their medical history and information online, patients will be able to make sure that all of their information is up to date and accurate.
- Access to Test Results. Your patients will be able to track records of test results, vaccine info, and more.
- Online Prescriptions. Patients can easily view prescription treatment and instructions.
- Electronic Referrals. Online referrals make it easier to keep in touch and follow up with different healthcare specialists.
- Greater Patient Involvement. One of the biggest benefits of EHRs is for patients to become more involved in their overall healthcare. Patients no longer have to pick up the phone and call to get the information they need. Online records allow them to request appointment notes to be printed or emailed to them. The easier it is for patients to access their own data in a secure environment, the more involved they will become.
If you're interested in using an EHR software in your practice, check out Uprise. Uprise is a cloud-based practice management and EHR solution for eyecare providers.
